Machinery of government changes came into effect on 12 December 2017 which saw the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training established as a new state government department arising from the incoming functions listed below.

Function

Former department

Employment Policies and Programs

Queensland Treasury

Small Business

Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games

International Vocational Education and Training, Vocational Education and Training, and Skills and Workforce

Department of Education and Training

As a result of these changes, the department launched a new strategic plan on 1 July 2018 and our 2018–19 annual report will reflect this.

The department’s service area structure for 2017–18 as at 30 June 2018 is as follows:

Service area

Objective

Description

Employment

To increase Queenslanders' participation in the labour market.

This service area focuses on increasing employment opportunities for Queenslanders, in particular disadvantaged cohorts. This area undertakes both policy and strategic engagement activities, as well as the delivery of key government employment programs. The service area also has responsibility for
business and skilled migration policy, in consultation with Business and Skilled Migration Queensland.

Small Business Services

To ensure small businesses can seamlessly interact with government and are better supported to manage and grow their business.

This service area focuses on products and services that are delivered to small business to better enable them to grow and make it easier to interact with government, including:

enhancing the capacity of business to engage with markets, attract investors, navigate the business/regulatory environment and access tools, resources and expertise to grow and succeed

engaging other business-focused government agencies to facilitate the delivery of online services for small business via Business Queensland

proactively employing strategies to streamline regulation to make it easier to do business.

Training and Skills

Queenslanders skilled to participate in the economy and the broader community.

Improving the skills profile of Queensland through delivery of a diverse and inclusive vocational education and training investment program that delivers on industry skills demands of today and the future, and supports publicly funded training providers to deliver high quality training.

The department played a key role in delivering on a number of the government’s commitments and has been working collaboratively with the government and stakeholders to implement the government’s commitments.

This included the delivery of six government commitments as summarised below.

Work Ready Queensland: Extend the Government’s Back to Work regional program including Youth Boost, until 2020, with payment to continue until 2021, to continue to support regional Queenslanders into work.

Up to $5 million to introduce a special Back to Work Boost for six months for mature-aged jobseekers aged 55 and over.

Convening a working group of industry stakeholders and departmental officials within 100 days to further consider a proposal for alternative training pathways for electrical apprentices.